Graduates from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology seem to be cashing in with their degrees.  New figures released by the school's Career and Professional Development Center show the average starting salary for a Mines graduate is a little more than $62,000.   That's an increase of six thousand dollars when compared to salaries last year and higher than the average starting salary for Harvard graduates.  Director of the Career and Professional Development Center Dr. Darrell Sawyer says, "I think it shows a couple of things: there's a demand for engineers out there within the industry and the type of graduates we have here, in terms of that work ethic, students willing to really problem solve and get in and have the right attitude and initiative, I think that factors into a lot of it."  Dr. Sawyer says more than 90 percent of recent grads have reported securing a job following graduation.

Zach Nugent